The 2021 BMW Alpina XB7 Is a 600-Horsepower Luxury Family SUV

this is an alpena xb7 and it's the high performance version of the bmw x7 luxury family suv now that's a big deal because bmw has said there will be no m version of the x7 but this gets pretty close with over 600 horsepower and a sticker price of over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars and today i'm going to review the xb7 before i get started be sure to check out cars and bids this is my new enthusiast car auction website for cool cars from the modern era we've had some great sales recently on cars and bids including this manual porsche cayenne which sold for over 32 thousand dollars this beautiful jaguar f-type r coupe with tremendously low miles sold for 51 000 and this gorgeous silver over red mercedes sl 55 amg which sold for just over 25 000 after dozens of bids if you're looking to sell your cool car cars and bids is the place and if you're looking to buy a cool car from the modern era the 1980s and up check out cars and bids daily auctions and amazing variety only at carsandbids.com i've borrowed this xb7 from crevier bmw here in orange county in southern california krevier bmw sells more bmws than any bmw dealership in north america and krevier has all of the latest bmw models including the new xb7 which has been very difficult to find in bmw dealerships across the united states so let's talk xb7 now like i said bmw has said that they won't make an m version of the x7 suv just like they won't make an m version of the 7 series luxury sedan it doesn't fit with the m brand image according to bmw so bmw gets around its own rule with alpena which is an independent company but one that bmw works with to create factory-backed almost m versions of its cars like the alpena b7 which is the 7 series m that bmw won't make and this the alpena xb7 the high performance x7 suv so think of this as a bmw x7 that's been tuned with the factory's blessing and with a factory warranty now the most power you can get from a regular bmw x7 is about 520 horsepower this has over 610 horses and about 590 pound-feet of torque amazing numbers and this does 0-60 in under 4 seconds under 4 seconds 0-60 in a vehicle the size of a lincoln navigator or a cadillac escalade it is mind-blowing but then so is the price tag these start around 145 000 this one has a sticker price of around 155 000 for a family suv not that any of this is particularly shocking really because mercedes-benz already builds a 600 horsepower version of the gls which is its three row family suv there's a 700 horsepower version of the dodge durango and the latest tesla model x to zero to 60 in under three seconds so this thing really is right at home in the world of ultra high performance luxury family suvs and today i'm going to review it first i'll take you on a tour of the xb7 and show you all of its interesting quirks and features then i'm going to get it out on the road and drive it and then i'll give it a dug score all right i'm going to start the quirks and features of the alpena xb7 by discussing some of the alpena changes over the x7 that means starting with the wheels and the xb7 comes standard with 22s but these are 23s they are optional at a cost of 2600 extra 23-inch wheels but i think they look fantastic although these aren't technically wheels if you look at the window sticker it describes these as alpena cs16 per nflts comma sty and i have to say these are the best looking cs16 per nflts comma sty that i've seen in a while and next up another noticeable alpena change comes to the front end of this car below the grill you have a more aggressive front bumper design to make the car seem more muscular and more performancy which it is you also have this giant alpena badge facing forward projecting out to make sure that everyone knows this is an alpena although i must say aside from this rather garish badge this car is pretty subtle in a really good way a lot of modern amg and m models have all sorts of adornments and excess on the outside to make sure you know what you're looking at this really doesn't aside from a few little things here and there that are just subtle enough so that people who know will know except for the giant alpena badge in front now it is worth noting that one hallmark of alpena has historically been weird stripes on the sides of its cars 80s and 90s alpena models have all sorts of stripes down the side and it was very characteristic to alpena well the xb7 is also offered with these stripes although not in the u.s market so you can get your xb7 with the cool alpena stripes just not here that's too bad they are neat and next up we move under the hood for the most important change to the xb7 this twin turbo v8 with more than 610 horsepower that's a pretty healthy figure this is the same engine in the top of the line regular x7 but this has 90 more horsepower thanks to quite a few adjustments and changes made by alpena now one important thing even though bmw insists they do not and will not make an x7m that's pretty much what this is the closest competitor to the x7 is the mercedes gls and the amg version of that car is almost identical on paper to the alpena version of this about the same horsepower price sizing performance it's all the same it's just that bmw doesn't want to water down the m brand by making an m version of such a big family suv but if you're looking for the gls amg competitor in bmw world that is definitely this even though they didn't call it the x7m and next up we move inside the xb7 we have a few more alpena changes for instance on the door sill it says alpena and you can see it lights up very cool you also have the alpena logo on the controller for the infotainment system here in the center console you twist it around but the alpena logo always stays up again reminding you of your special alpina but the biggest change in this interior is the steering wheel which is alpena specific it is very thick it has this thick rim to feel really like a performance car should and it has green stitching which that i don't really understand there is no green stitching anywhere else in this entire interior except on the steering wheel maybe you'd think green is one of alpena's colors but in their badge it's just blue white red black no green so i'm not entirely sure why this car has green stitching that however is not the only strange thing about the steering wheel even weirder than the green stitching is the shift paddle situation you look behind the wheel where the paddles normally are you can see there's like a little button that says plus and minus now to up shift and downshift you don't press those instead there's a button mounted behind those that you push and that button up shifts or downshifts why no traditional shift paddles i have no idea instead you have little buttons whose presence is alerted to you by other little buttons it is a very strange decision with the steering wheel of this car but that's what they've done the other important alpena change in this car is in the center console near the infotainment controller the lid for the cup holder as you can see has this alpena sort of plaque on it again to remind you that you are in a special alpena built bmw and not just a regular bmw like all the others that plaque does make things a little cooler in here but anyway next up beyond all the alpena changes let's move on to the back seat because this is ultimately a family suv and so the back seat is very important now this xb7 has rear captain's chairs in the second row as you can see and they are power operated you press these little seat controls on the side and you can move them backward forward and the backrest backward or forward which is a very luxurious feature for second row seats in any suv in fact there's a lot of power stuff back here for instance this little button on the door sill controls the sun shade you press it and then the sun shade over the entire panoramic sunroof will open or close at your wind and speaking of the panoramic sunroof yes you see some blue in there to match the interior ambient lighting color this xb7 has bmw's panoramic sky lounge feature which provides color to the sunroof that you can see when you're like in a parking garage or when it's night and you can see it here sort of a blue ambient light in the sunroof which is a very bizarre but rather interesting feature and beyond that stuff there are a lot of luxury features in the back of this car for instance you can see there are screens mounted on the backs of the front seats pointing towards the rear seat passengers and these are full touch screens you don't need a stupid remote like so many other cars they're touch screens and they're very responsive they do whatever you want and they can show the weather if that's what you want to see they can show traffic they can show your current navigation destination and map they're very useful screens and you can also use this screen to change the ambient lighting color in the interior of this car i showed you earlier it was blue but you can use the screen to select from many different color options in here which is a pretty cool touch and of course you can also use the screen for entertainment you can see the headphone plug is down here in the center console area and you can play movies or music or whatever using these screens as well and by the way speaking of the ports for the headphones in this area you can also see you have two usbc charging ports which are nice for charging devices and you have a couple of cup holders here but then you also have this rather ugly plastic center console piece which says x7 on it very proudly very large kind of strange especially considering this is not an x7 it's the xb7 but they kept that piece in anyway it always has looked out of place in this luxurious back seat and there's a lot more to cover once you get into the third row although getting back here is kind of annoying first you lift up this latch like a lot of three row vehicles pretty easy but then the seat automatically moves forward which takes a second and it's just kind of annoying to wait for it if you want to climb into the third row your kids are never really going to want to wait like 8 10 12 seconds each time but anyway once you climb in here you discover that the third row in the xb70 is unbelievably luxurious for a third row probably the most luxurious third row in the industry let me take you through some of the features you have your own sunroof in the third row look at this a third row specific sunroof you have one panoramic roof over the first two rows and then one sunroof just for the third row passengers you won't see that again you can open or close the sunshade with this little button unfortunately on the rear door not really accessible to third row passengers but there is a power sunshade over the third row specific sunroof and check this out mounted near the sunroof you have climate controls just for the third row this car has five zone climate controls two in the front two in the middle and then one zone just for the third row passengers to choose their own temperature you never see that and you even have heated seats in the third row this little button turns on the heated third row seats i've never seen that in any car but this there is an unbelievable level of attention on third row passengers back here which is nice it's a three row suv and they're so often forgotten but not in the xb7 and frankly just the materials quality back here is nice the leather is soft and supple just like in the front two rows and you even have a leather and stitched arm rest on the side of the third row for resting your arm a lot of automakers just leave it plastic since it's only kids who are going to be using it but not in this car everything is nice back here and one other interesting third row quirk you can put down the third row seats automatically from several different positions in the car including with these little switches behind the second row seat so you open up the rear door and you can use these switches to put up or down the third row that's pretty cool you have these switches on either side left or right so regardless of which way you're getting into the car if you want to let someone into the third row and you realize oh darn the seats down you can just push the switch the seat will go right back up very easy to do impressive and convenient but anyway since we're talking third row seating let's talk cargo area first off badging back here you can see very subtle alpena on one side xb7 on the other no excessive ridiculous badging to show everybody what this is it's reasonably restrained but anyway getting back here to open up the tailgate you can see you pop it open and only some of the tailgate opens up there's still this part down here which stays in place that's because this is a split tailgate now to open this you press this little button on the top of the lower tailgate and then it automatically deploys and you have two tailgates open why do they do this well they make it so you can open just the upper tailgate if you want to throw in a small item into the cargo area and then you don't have to open the whole thing which can be difficult in some parking situations but they also make it two tailgates so that you can sit on the lower half so if you want to have like a little picnic or a tailgate off of your vehicle you can just sit back here and enjoy what you can't do if the entire tailgate opens at once that is kind of a neat trick but anyway let's move into the cargo area your one highlight is definitely the seat controls you have an enormous number of seat controls in the cargo area so you can put the seats up or down now you can control the second row seats back here this little switch will move the second row seat forward or backwards corresponding to the seat that you're pressing the switch for which is a pretty cool feature a lot of suvs with three rows only let you put the second row down but you have to actually walk up to the seat and pull it back up not here you can move it all around using these switches and of course same deal with the third row you press this set of switches and you can move the third row seats down or up again depending on exactly what configuration you want the car in one really neat touch here is there are individual buttons you can press if you want all the seats raised and you press max seats or if you want as much luggage room as possible you press max luggage and of course pressing max luggage will lower the third row and move the second row seats as far forward as possible max seats does the opposite it puts all the seats in place having those like shortcut buttons is a nice feature because often that's what you want to do max out your cargo room or your passenger space and you don't want to hold down each individual button to do it now when you go to close the tailgate you just press the little tailgate button and as you can see both tailgates close together so you don't have to do the lower one first and then the upper one they will both close at the same time automatically like a luxury suv should but anyway back up front for some more interesting quirks and features i want to start with the shifter which is just cool it's this like clear crystal looking thing with the x for x7 hidden inside and you can see it reflecting on multiple levels and it's blue to match the ambient lighting color in the car right now which just looks really cool you change the ambient lighting color and that x will change color too that's pretty neat also in the center console if you lift up the little lid with the alpena plaque you can see the cup holders are heated or cooled press these little buttons to heat or cool them and they even turn the color of whatever you're doing so blue for cooled red for heated also a pretty cool feature and another cool lighting feature happens on the doors when you have the car on and you open up a door you can see the ambient lighting starts blinking in red to alert people that could be coming up that a door is open which is a neat touch if you close the door the ambient lighting color turns back to the color of the rest of the interior but when the door is open it blinks in red as a safety feature which is nice and next up moving on to some interesting quirks and features of the infotainment system this car has this amazing 3d camera feature which like shows you an entire view from the outside of the car exactly what you're doing which can make parallel parking or driving in a small space tremendously easy despite this car's large size and check it out the camera system even shows this exact car in this exact color with these exact wheels i'm not sure if they program that or if we just got lucky but that is a cool feature seeing the exact car in the computer in the center of the car and another excellent feature of this infotainment system bmw is a feature called gesture control which means you don't even have to touch the screen in order to make certain changes to what's happening for instance right now i am moving the volume up or down on the radio just by moving my finger in a circular motion near the infotainment screen it can read that motion and it knows that motion is set to change the volume there are several different preset motions that do various things in this screen or you can set certain custom motions to also do various things but it is cool you don't even have to touch the screen that's the level of future that we're on next up there's some interesting apps in this infotainment system one is called automatic window and that allows you to set your driver's window to roll down when you reach a certain gps coordinate kind of a weird thing but i guess they're thinking maybe you drive on the highway you want the windows up but as soon as you get off you want them to come down you can program the car to do that if it's like on your commute home kind of strange but they allow it you also have this drive recorder feature which basically is a built-in dash cam i'm seeing more and more dash cams and cars tesla has them general motors and a few bmws and it uses the camera system on the outside of the car to record while you drive which of course can be useful later if you're in an accident and there's some question over fault i love seeing built-in dash cams i think all cars should have them and it's neat that this one does with that said this infotainment system bmws is pretty good but not the best i like it very responsive to your touch pretty intuitive but it just isn't as comprehensive as mercedes-benz allowing you to see various things displayed at one time the screen isn't as large as mercedes-benz it doesn't give you as many options on various different screens you have to go deeper into menus to find stuff it's just not quite as good as mercedes-benz or frankly audi both of those have a bit of a leg up that's especially true with the gauge cluster situation in this car which is nowhere near as configurable as mercedes or audi you do have a full screen gauge cluster but you just can't do as much with it as you can in the rival german luxury brands i would say of the big three german brands bmw definitely third in terms of infotainment at the current time by the way one interesting item in the gauge cluster you can see this little piece kind of stuck in the middle that is a camera that monitors the driver and it controls a driver assist system that will take over control of the steering the braking the accelerating as long as the driver is looking forward under a lot of conditions that's bmw's version of an automated driving system similar to tesla autopilot and cadillac supercruise and it works pretty well and so those are the quirks and features of the alpena xb7 now it's time to get this out on the road and see how it drives all right driving the alpena xb7 now i have always liked the x7 i think it's the best of these three row luxury suvs um just because the appointments are so nice the the materials the quality i think it looks great it has a lot of great features in tech the new mercedes gls is nice but i think they kind of mailed it in they just sort of evolved the current one and then the x7 came out in my opinion sort of destroyed it but now you have this one with 600 horsepower and so that makes it even more impressive now driving this thing around first impression is that it's really excellent uh even before you start getting into the performance aspect of it so i'm driving this and you know it's very comfortable in here which is the hallmark of the x7 it feels luxury car quiet in here again a hallmark of the x7 the ride quality is fantastic the materials are great like i mentioned before again very nice looking sv all the great benefits of the x7 in the alpena x7 and i will attempt a little accelerating i cannot believe i'm doing this in a vehicle this size oh my god that's fast wow you know i'm a big wagon fan but this might just be the best all-around vehicle using three rows it gives you a lot more room than any traditional wagon and my god that accelera i mean it this is sports car acceleration it's so fast it is quickly apparent driving this car that it doesn't quite have sports car handling it is better than you'd expect and i'll tell you i just recently drove the escalade and there's no performance version of the escalade so they're not trying for performance but that car is it's very ponderous when you go around corners and it's amazing that you get into this which is a competitor a direct competitor and it feels so much more stable man sitting in here i mean this is just fan this car is just fantastic there's like nothing it can't do well it doesn't handle like a sports car doesn't break like a sports car probably as well but um it does rel it's closer than you think considering all the other benefits you get from this car it's amazing to me the level of modern performance suvs they have really been able to create this this sports car feel and this high quality feel and this you know family usability feel and you start to understand why so many people have suvs they're just so competent at so many things man i love this thing and i was really not expecting it to i was not expecting to love it all that much actually i mean it's a ridiculous vehicle come on overall really impressed i think you have amazing tech which i showed you before you have great styling in the x7 in general you have all the wonderful luxury features of the regular x7 and you have the performance of this and i have to tell you this car actually rides this might be controversial but i think it rides about as well as a regular x7 i don't notice a huge distinction between the ride of this vehicle and the regular one even though this is on like massive wheels and performance suspension this car uh it's just a great all-rounder but you're paying an enormous amount of money for the privilege of having all these things in one vehicle and so that's the alpena xb7 this is a truly impressive vehicle really really excellent if you need over 600 horsepower in your family suv if you don't you probably view this as overpriced overpowered and just frankly ridiculous but take comfort in knowing the people who buy this vehicle they probably don't really care what you think anyway now it's time to give the xb7 a doug score starting with the weekend categories and styling the xb7 is a handsome suv except for that grill that big grill it is growing on me maybe literally but it's been the subject of some scorner and it gets a six out of ten acceleration zero to sixty is just under four seconds and it gets an eight out of ten handling is fine but not quite high performance suv great this is fast but in terms of handling it's no eris or cayenne turbo and it gets a five out of ten fun factor same deal it's fast and sort of fun but not crazily so and it gets a 5 out of 10. cool factor this is cooler than a normal x7 but i really think they should badge it as an m i personally don't think it would dilute the m brand any more than they already have diluted it with other models and it would make this even cooler as is it gets a 5 out of 10 for a total weekend score of 29 out of 50. next up are the daily categories and features this has a ton of equipment amazingly so and it gets a 9 out of 10. comfort is excellent and it gets an 8 out of 10. same with quality fantastic materials basically everywhere not quite rolls or bentley level but very strong and it gets an 8 out of 10. practicality is also excellent given the seating and cargo capacity and it gets a 9 out of 10. finally value this really does it all but at a big price a hundred and forty thousand dollars or more is huge money and i suspect these will lose value fast it gets a five out of ten for a total daily score of 39 out of 50. added up and the doug score is 68 out of 100 which places it here against relevant cars this really is a great all-around vehicle scoring very well in weekend and daily categories i just wish it was a little cheaper you

Channel: Doug DeMuro

Views: 559,809

Rating: 4.9108801 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: kh3UmoLAVOw

Length: 24min 47sec (1487 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 27 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/A_1337_Canadian]

I wish the intent of the Alpina models was applied more broadly. It seems that nearly every big engine/big power option these days also gets offered as a sporty performance model. I just want big power in something more comfortable.

Why not offer the C 43 engine with 18" tires and a comfort suspension? In looking at MB wagons, I'd love a C 43 wagon without the sport suspension. Of course, the E 450 wagon exists with slightly less power but it's noticeably heavier.

The crux of the matter is that the image of performance sells (even if the performance itself is never even partially utilized). So take away the image of performance (no low-profile tires, no sporty suspension), then the marketability goes away.

[u/gibberish507]

It’s really crazy that “high performance family friendly SUV” is even a segment, but I’m here for it.

[u/pryan886]

It seems a bit arbitrary to draw the line for an M-version before the 7-series / X7 to not "dilute the brand". They've been diluting the brand hard for a while now.

I'm not just talking about BMW-M cars that aren't true "sports cars" (like the X3M, X4M, X5M, X6M).

I'm not just talking about M-performance cars that aren't "proper" M-Cars (M235i, M440i, M760Li) with a dozen ///M badges smattered across the car (headrests, gear lever, door sills, fenders, trunk, wheels, calipers, ...)

I'm not just talking about the M-sport packages that can be optioned on every base model car.

There is literally a BMW M Bicycle. Not a legendary BMW Motorcycle. A bicycle. And it's not even a fast aero road bike. It's a hybrid with flat handle bars. If BMW can sell that, they can make a damn X7M.

[u/xanksnap]

maybe i'm in the minority category, but I like the Alpina line. The X5M is a performance monster, BUT its also kinda stiff, its purposefully been built that way as a no compromise performance vehicle. But as a daily, it would annoy me to feel all the bumps in the road, especially for a vehicle I wouldn't actually be tracking.

on the 7 series, no one is taking any of those to the track, it doesnt need a crazy racing suspension. buyers in that segment want the power of the M engines without the associated compromises in ride quality. The Alpina line fits in perfectly with that mindset.

[u/SojusCalling]

Finally an Alpina, even though this is probably the least interesting one. I think Doug would have a great time in the B3 or B5 Touring.

Alpinas are meant to be discreet, fast, and comfortable cruisers, you use everyday and to destroy everything on the Autobahn. I love them.

[u/durrtyurr]

I'm guessing that the automatic window thing is primarily for parking garages. you pull into the garage at home or work and the window rolls down for you to use your parking pass. It could also be useful for drive-through windows that you use frequently.

[u/Gluecksritter90]

Alpina is an independent manufacturer, not just some trick BMW uses to not dilute their brand. They're to BMW kinda what Ruf is to Porsche.

[u/themikesem]

The grill doesn't bother me on this very much. The car is gigantic so the grill isn't quite as dominating for the front facia. Still, this thing is pretty sick.

[u/Imakeshittycardesign]

Why would the signature stripes not be offered in the US? AFAIK the XB7s all get assembled and finished in Spartanburg so where do the XB7s for Europe get their stripes from? Strange...